Journalism 101: Why we do the things we do

Saturday

Mar 23, 2013 at 12:01 AM

In a few weeks, I will have the opportunity to speak to the Lexington Kiwanis Club. I may break out my Peanuts tie that shows the characters reading newspapers, a gift from my sister-in-law many years ago. I wore it to the North Carolina Press Association News, Editorial & Photojournalism Contest Awards Ceremony on Thursday in Chapel Hill.

Chad Killebrew

In a few weeks, I will have the opportunity to speak to the Lexington Kiwanis Club. I may break out my Peanuts tie that shows the characters reading newspapers, a gift from my sister-in-law many years ago. I wore it to the North Carolina Press Association News, Editorial & Photojournalism Contest Awards Ceremony on Thursday in Chapel Hill.I always enjoy attending the awards ceremony, seeing colleagues from around the state and joining them in honoring the work judges from other states found the best for that particular year. The Dispatch captured 11 awards for 2012; a story appeared Friday that detailed our results.Ultimately, the judges who matter the most aren't those who work as journalists in other states but the readers who view our work day in and day out. I appreciate opportunities to tell individual readers and groups like the Kiwanians about our mission and why we do certain things. A recent article I read talked about the importance of journalists explaining their work to readers.This column is one way in which I do that. I started a list recently on some questions that have arisen in the past few weeks. I've discussed some of these matters in the past, but I thought now would be an opportunity to revisit them and perhaps touch on some new ones. Call it Journalism 101.Every industry has certain terminology that insiders immediately understand but others may not. A reader might call a news story an advertisement or an opinion column an article. Normally we can pretty quickly ascertain what the reader means.An article offers an objective look at a subject with facts and quotes from pertinent sources. It doesn't (or shouldn't) contain the reporter's opinion on the topic. A column does offer the writer's opinion. An editorial gives an opinion on a subject and doesn't contain the name of the writer, since it's considered the newspaper's position.Reporters don't write editorials on subjects they cover. I recently learned some folks in the community thought that was the case. A couple of us here, including myself, write editorials, but none of the reporters do. The editorial writers may base their positions on news stories and even talk with reporters to gain more understanding on a specific subject.Our job is not to be a public relations firm for any organization, business or government. We report the news, some of which would be classified as positive, other that might be called negative. A common complaint is we don't report enough good news, but I can quickly scan through a week's papers and find several positive stories.Some of the stories and photographs that appear concern tragedies. No one here enjoys covering incidents in which someone dies, but that's part of the job. These stories always attract a high readership online; I'll leave it to others to determine why that is. But we always strive to handle these stories with compassion and sensitivity.Only those who work at The Dispatch read stories before they appear in print. Occasionally a member of the public will ask to see a story prepublication, but it goes against journalistic principles to allow outside people, especially those with a vested interest in the article, to preview it before it appears in print. As professionals, we ask people to trust our judgment in determining the information and quotes used in stories.The lead story that appears in print each day is the one with the largest headline size. It may be stripped across the top of the front page, appear down the side or in other configurations. We choose the lead story based on what has the most news value and impacts the readers the most. It typically isn't a feature story.I hope this answers some of the questions perhaps you had about our operation here at The Dispatch. Don't hesitate to email or call me at the addresses listed below if you have specific questions. I know not everyone will agree with the rationale for some of our decisions, but I'm always glad to explain them.Chad Killebrew is executive editor of The Dispatch. He can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 215, or at chad.killebrew@the-dispatch.com.